OECD Consensus Country Classifications

http://www.oecd.org/document/49/0,2340,en_2649_34171_1901105_1_1_1_37467,00.html

The risk ratings for most public credit and political risk insurers are based on the "OECD Consensus" ratings. Many countries have government agencies that offer insurance to exporters against "political" risks. The problem is, this insurance could be turned into an unfair subsidy -- if the government offers the insurance to exporters for extremely low rates, even for risky export destinations.

The idea of the OECD Consensus is to prevent countries from pretending that destination countries are less risky than they really are. The Consensus sets minimum risk ratings for markets around the world (rating floors), based on analysis and claims data from credit insurers. Current risk ratings are viewable as a PDF file.

KEYWORDS: risk for exporters, risk for investors